Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition by Steven Baboun. An opening reception will be held Thursday, September 21, 6–8pm during our monthly social event, Creative Cocktail Hour, which lasts from 6-10pm. The exhibition will be on view through Sunday, December 10 2023. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Sunday from 2-9pm. Admission is free. Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street, Hartford.
Originally from Port-au-Prince, Steven Baboun has cherished his homeland of Haiti as a playground for self-exploration, an arena for political analysis and dissection, and a space for world-building outside of the Western gaze – a phenomenon used to harmfully misrepresent Haiti, its people, history, and culture.
This exhibition allows the viewer to enter Baboun’s Haiti, a state between dreaming and consciousness, between Haiti today and the dream of a utopian Haiti for all Haitians. It derives from the importance of dreams in Haitian Voudou and Haitian society. This show offers a look at Baboun’s collaboration between his own dreams and his country.
Baboun’s photographs transform Haitian people into dignified monuments, a fragment of a dreaming state, and powerful altars, celebrating Haitian existence through an anti-western gaze. They represent a wide range of Haitians: from artists to activists, queer Haitians, Vodou practitioners, and the artist’s community of friends and family. Baboun spotlights the diversity and complexities of Haitian identity.
Throughout the exhibition, Baboun constructs a space where people enter not as an outsider looking in, but as an invited guest, neighbor, or a friend, approaching realties unknown to them and entering our collective state of dreaming.
Steven Baboun is an artist, photographer, and creative director from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, based in New York City. He holds a Bachelors degree in Film and Media Arts and a minor in Education Studies from American University, as well as a Masters in Fine Arts in Photography from Parsons School of Design. Baboun works in photography, video, performance, textile + multimedia installation, and design. Currently, Baboun is the founder and creative director of Studio Baboun, a creative house based in Brooklyn, New York. For more information on Steven Baboun, please visit his website.
Steven Baboun is a recipient of a 2022 Real Art Award. The Real Art Awards is an annual opportunity offered by Real Art Ways for emerging artists living in New England, New Jersey, or New York. The open call, offered with no entry fees to artists, attracts hundreds of applicants each year, of which 6 artists are chosen. The 2022 Real Art Awards were juried by Carlos Motta, Yona Backer, and Real Art Ways Executive Director Will K. Wilkins. In addition to a cash prize and a solo exhibition, each artist receives logistical and curatorial support throughout the exhibition process. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Image Source: Pa Bliye M, Si W Bliye M, 2019, Photography
